wait

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To remain or rest in expectation: waiting for the guests to arrive. See Synonyms at stay¹.
2. v. To tarry until another catches up.
3. v. To remain or be in readiness: lunch waiting on the table.
4. v. To remain temporarily neglected, unattended to, or postponed: The trip will have to wait.
5. v. To work as a waiter or waitress.
6. v. To remain or stay in expectation of; await: wait one's turn.
7. v. Informal To delay (a meal or an event); postpone: They waited lunch for us.
8. v. To be a waiter or waitress at: wait tables.
9. n. The act of waiting or the time spent waiting.
10. n. Chiefly British One of a group of musicians employed, usually by a city, to play in parades or public ceremonies.
11. n. Chiefly British One of a group of musicians or carolers who perform in the streets at Christmastime.
12. on To serve the needs of; be in attendance on.
13. on To make a formal call on; visit.
14. on To follow as a result; depend on.
15. on To await: They're waiting on my decision.
16. wait out To delay until the termination of: wait out a war; waited out the miniskirt craze.
17. wait up To postpone going to bed in anticipation of something or someone.
18. wait up Informal To stop or pause so that another can catch up: Let's wait up for the stragglers.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. l. A watchman; a guard; also, a spy.
2. n. One of a body of musicians, especially in the seventeenth century in England. Originally the waits seem to have been watchmen who sounded horns, or in some other noisy way announced their being on watch. Bands of musicians seem to have borne the name generally at a later time, and it is still preserved in England, as applied to persons who sing out of doors at Christmas time, and seek gratuities from house to house.
3. n. An old variety of hautboy or shawm: so called because much used by the waits.
4. n. The act of watching; watchfulness.
5. n. An ambush; a trap; a plot: obsolete except in the phrase to lie in wait.
6. n. The act of waiting: as, a wait for the train at a station.
7. n. Time occupied in waiting; delay; an interval of waiting; specifically, in theatrical language, the time between two acts. Compare stage-wait.
8. To watch; be on the watch; lie in wait; look out.
9. To look forward to something; be in expectation: often with for.
10. To stay or rest in patience or expectation; remain in a state of quiescence or inaction, as till the arrival of some person or event, or till the proper moment or favorable opportunity for action: often with for.
11. To remain in readiness to execute orders; be ready to serve; be in waiting; perform the duties of an attendant or a servant; hence, to serve; supply the wants of persons at table.
12. To look at; look toward.
13. To lie in wait for.
14. To expect; look for.
15. To attend to; perform, as a duty.
16. To be ready to serve; do the bidding of.
17. To attend upon as a servant; act as attendant to; be in the service of.
18. To go to see; call upon; visit; attend.
19. To escort; accompany; attend; specifically, to attend as bridesmaid or groomsman.
20. To attend or follow as a consequence; be associated with; accompany.
21. To observe; examine; take notice of; expect; watch for; look out for.
22. To plan; scheme; contrive.
23. To seek.
24. To stay for; attend; await; expect.
25. To defer; put off; keep waiting: said of a meal.
26. To attend upon; accompany; escort.
27. To follow as a consequence of something; attend upon.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by "wait for".)
2. v. intransitive To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
3. v. intransitive, US To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
4. n. A delay.
5. n. An ambush.
6. n. obsolete One who watches; a watchman.
7. n. plural Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. obsolete To watch; to observe; to take notice.
2. v. To stay or rest in expectation; to stop or remain stationary till the arrival of some person or event; to rest in patience; to stay; not to depart.
3. v. To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in expectation of; to await.
4. v. obsolete To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany; to await.
5. v. obsolete To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.
6. v. colloq. To cause to wait; to defer; to postpone; -- said of a meal.
7. n. The act of waiting; a delay; a halt.
8. n. Ambush.
9. n. obsolete One who watches; a watchman.
10. n. obsolete Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians; not used in the singular.
11. n. Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. wait before acting
2. v. stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
3. v. look forward to the probable occurrence of
4. n. time during which some action is awaited
5. n. the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
6. v. serve as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant